Process to determine the alcohol and the color in alcoholic liquids



ou, 3o, 192s. 1,689,901

J. F. WILLIAMS PROCESS TO DETERMINE THE ALCOHOL AND THE COLOR IN ALGOHOLIC LIQUIDS il PMM/fren 4 5TM/va l l l CARAMEL mA/vez, i l l CARA/wf; Cal/.0R 631.01? juan y am Fofff//v w/f/s/ry MEP/UM 0f? cu r nvr/ffm w/f//rr [wfg Assn) FINE/5N WM5/(Y Hua/m1 WATER' Swann/5) l INvENToR c/'oZzzz .F.'Nlliomzs ou. '30',- 192s. 1,689,901

` J. F. WILLIAMS PROCESS TO DETERMINE THE ALCOHOL AND THE COLOR IN ALCOHOLIC LIQUIDS Filed Ju'lyO, 1926 2 sheets-sheet 2 Ffa? Hf//f/T 0F LWE/ L'YfR Renn/Na /N M/Ls /cc) TfMFfRArz/Rf Zgff] W' *risse INVENTOR John F Williams Patented ct. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES i tenen orrics.

JOHN F. WILLIAMS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, SSGFNOR ONE-THIRD TO CARROLL if. ROBERTS AND ONEFIFTEENTH 'JO LUCAN C. E'AKSGN, BOTH OF BUFFALO, NEW

YORK.

PROCESS TO DETERMINE ALCOHOL AND THE COLOR EN ALCOHOLIC LIQUIDSV.

Application filed July 30,

This invention relates to methods and apparatus ter using a test reagent which will determine the percentage ot alcohol in alcoholic liquids, as terinented and distilled spirits and the hydroxides ot organic radicals, and at the saine timedetcrmine the naturaland artificial color in the sarne` as tor instance in Whisky. y

My `main object vis to furnish a simple process or method that requires no especia-l skill 'tor making' a quick, reliable and an easily understood. determination ot the aln cohol in alcoholic liquids and also at the same time to determine the natural and artificial color in same.

Another object is to furnish a process which can be used by a chemist or layman i atter a tew minutes instruction.

Another object is to furnish a method an d apparatus tor determiningl alcohol and color which will take the place et the more expensive and time consuming laboratory methods and at a small cost, and also Where only a small sample, as for instance less than one ounce, is available. i

With these objects in View,` the invention consists in a certain novel process and apparatus bywhich the said objects and certain other objects which Will hereinafter appear are attained., theinvention being' more particularly pointed out in the claims.

rlhis test is not a precision method and it is not intended that this method with the apparatus and tlieireag'ent (which said revagent is the subject otl a cio-pendingY appli- V cation lor patent and to which reference made) Will be a complete substitute or can for the laboratory `method and its use is in` dicatedwhere a sampleis too small ilor con-` venlent use Wlth a hydroineter senor pyeiese. serial No. 125,935.

nometer and balance or Where these instruments are not available outside ot the laboratory,

lThe present standard method ot testing distilled liquors in the laboratory tor the percentage ol alcohol is to Weigh or measure a sample trom which the alcohol is distilled and its speciiic gravity obtained by means oit a pycnometer or a hydrometer. The corresponding percentage et alcohol in the distilllate is obtained trom a table and from the amount et the distillate and the sample the percentage ot alcohol calculated. process requires accurate technical knowlodiare and considerable time.

r ie color test is then a separate matter hy 4usine' 20 cc. ot a Marsh reagent to 250C. ol" a solution made up trom a sample which has been evaporated and then dissolved in Water and alcohol added.

The Marsh reaeent is composed ot 100 cc, ot pure ainyl alcohoh Sl cc. ot sirupy phos 'phoric acid and 3 cc. et Watern lllhese present standarcs are obtained from clrlethodsot Analysis ot' the Association oit Ollicial .fligricultural Chemists, second edi tionR revised to July l, 19241.

My process for testing, alcoholic liquid 'for alcohol and coloring mater depends upon thc tact that a special reagent described in my cao-pending patent application `126,738 tiled August 2, 1926, `extracts and takes up the alcohol trom the said liquid leaving an aqueous residuum a lower layer. The apparatus iter testing the liquid is described below and is preferably cylinder Where the height ot the said lower layer oit' aqueous residuum canbe read directly as an alcoholic percentage or Where said reading can be translated by means ot a table or curve. At the saine time the natural coloring matter shown in the oil reagent at the top and the artificial coloring matter is shown in the equeous residuum at the bfuitom.v The color in the reagent or in the residuuni can simply be noted as natural or cartilicial7 and the :urproxiinatc shade., to see it the liquid had coloring matter added andthe amount, or a `eoniparison and a calculation et percentage ing a part ot' this specilication, Figure l is.,

This

an elevation of a receptacle in the shape of a cylinder, tube or graduate marked oft accoi-ding to iny-inethod and which will give a percentage reading direct and showing a readingfor standard U. S. whisky.

Fig. "2, is an elevation of an ordinary -10--cc. cylinder inarkedinthe regular way V,my method, can be any'size desired but is preferably between live and sii; inches in .height and with an inside diameter of about three-eighthsof an inch as being a size con- Venient `to carry in the pocket. This tube vtogetherwith an ouncebottle of my reagentv -ormsthe complete testing outfit.

'The diyisionlines marked with the figures 10, 20, etc. as percentages as shown in Fig. 1, are preferably etched. one-halt way around the'cylinder while longer lines Vare marked yfor the two divisions as 5 cc. and 10-cc. rEhe 5 caline is one-half the distance from the bottom ofthe cylinder tothe 10 cc. line.

The percentage lines are spaced about as shownin-the drawing, i. e. the distances between the lines increase toward the bottom of Vthe cylinder as the percentage readings become larger'. In. the upper space between the figures 5 cc. `and 10 cc. is yetched the words Natural color and below 5 cc. the

words Caramel color.

' The'cylinder is preferably of 4glass and `glassV stoppered and should Vbe frequently .cleaned Vwhen 4inA use so as to insure good results.

:My special oil test reagent .as described inV my co-pending patent application is made up astollows:

Amyiaicimi fuSeif0ii) Tomas um.)

Toluene C. P 28 mils .Tai-tario vacid (50% aqueous solution)y Q'mils .My process is as follows: .Using `a cylinder as shown in Fig. 1,

.thoroughly Vclean the cylinder and rinse with Vthe sample, then into the cylinder place exactly 5 ce. of thesainple, and add 5 ce.

.of the reagent. The temperature before niiX- ing 'should Vbe approximately v20" C. (68 F.).. fThe tube is .gently inverted six to eight times, then rotated slowly and allowed 'to stand until the layers separate, then the height ot' thev lower layer read in percentage.

.The tubeshould again beinverted, the layers allowed to separate, and the reading repeated. If any difference is noted in the two readings a third reading should be taken as a check.

Should an emulsion form it will discharge itseltl on standing. To hasten this condition, howevergthe `cylinder may be rotated gently for a few seconds. Or, atteipartial separation has taken place, the emulsion may be discharged atonce by gently warniingij Vthe c 7linder a 'few dear/ees. but returning to 20" C. .before `.accepting the reading. By gently mixing the liquids an emulsion is not likely to form.

Droplets of water adhering to the sides ot the cylinder, because of presence ot dirt or grease, may be forced down by suddenly rapping the cylinder with apeneil, but is an indication that the cylinder should be more carefully cleaned.

The cylinder oi graduate should be in a Vertical position when read and in taking the reading, the middle nieniscus should be used as it inost accurately represents the ein act volume ot the lower layer. rlhe middle nieniscus is less variable when it'cliauges ,aiter the reagent is added, as the linal nienisens is almost a straight line.

There the tube used is one marked with equal divisions as an ordinary 10 cc. tube the percentage of alcohol may be obtained Vlroin the table below, or from the curve (Fig. 7) which has been plotted from the values in the table.

Table lRealingf lRenling; mig lt 0 yileohol mili )t of 'ih-olio] by Tolunie Y@ by volume (ce.) (ce.)

0. 0 G5. 0 or over 2. 5 50.0-(100 proof) 5 0 2. 49. 0 l. 0 (30. 5 2. 7 4S. 0 1. 1 60. 0 2. 8 47. 0 1. 2 .59. 5 2. l) 40. 0 1. 3 50. 0 3. 0 15. 0 1. 4 5S. 5 3. l. 44. 0 1. 5 58. 0 3. 2 43. 0 1. G 57. 0 3. 3 41. 5 1. 7 50. 5 3. 4 40. 0 1. 8 50. 0 3. 7 35. 0 1. 9 55. 0 4. 0 30. 0 .2. 0 54. 5 4. 2 25. 0 2. 1 53. 5 4. 4 20. 0 2. 2 52. 5 4. 6 15. 0 2. 3 52. 0 4. 8 10. (l 2. 4 51. 0 5. 1 0. 0

The curve is used as follows:

The height ot the lower layer in the tube. as 2.5 is located on the lower horizontal line below the curve, following up a vertical line to the curve, then following the horizontal line to the vertical line on the left el:

lll)

be some color in the top layer from the original stock but reduced in density according to the amount of original stock in the mixture while added color or caramel will show in the bottom layer and in a percent age to make up for the reducedcolor in the original stock. The percentage of alcohol will be usually less than 50% as shown in Fig. 3.

ln Fig. lis shown a test for good foreign whisky in which a small amount of arti iicial color is permitted. The color from eaken barrels may be about the same as for standard U. S. whisky and shows in the upper layer while the amount of cara-mel shows .in the lower layer. The alcohol content will run from 41% to 47%.

ln Fig. 5 for medium or out foreign whisky there will be a slight color in upper layer and a strong caramel color in lower layer with usually a low alcohol ln Fig. 6 for synthetic whisky (made from alcohol, water and coloring) no color will show in the upper layer, all color in the lower layer and with varying percentages oi' alcohol but usually low.

ln reference to the temperature at which the tests for alcohol by this method are made it is not a diilicult matter to keep such temperature within lo or 2O trom 20 C. and within these limits, the error will not be appreciable. It has been found that using a solution of 50% alcohol by volume, a temperature of 100 C. gave a reading et alcohol as i8.6% or 1.4% low, while a temperature ot 30 C. gave a reading of alcohol as 51.4% or 1.4% high. The ell'ect of temperature change however is less than that on the alcohol hydrometer method as this same temperature change by the hydrometer method has been found to make readings over 31% low or high according as the temperature was lo C. low or high, which is a. dilierence of over 21/2 times greater than by my oil testmethod.

The efi'ect ot the presence ot 5% of glycs crine or olf et cane sugar on a solution o'l' 50% alcohol by volume has been found to makeA a reading in the case of the glycerine of 50.3% and in the case of the cane sugar oit 50.1% which is not important.

The method is applicable to the distillates from wines and cordials, and to the concentrated distillates from vinegar, near-beer, ale, cider, etc.

ln the case olf liquors having a low alcoholic content, say under a laboratory method is as iollows:

Distill 100 mils of the sample very slowly, collecting mils, apply the test to l0 mils of the distillate, and divide the percentage of alcohol thus obtained by 5.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A process i'or determining the alcohol in an alcoholic liquid which consists essentially of mixing a sample of said liquid and a reagent which includes an amyl alcohol and toluene in a graduated receptacle, whereby the alcohol in said liquid is taken up by said reagent and the percentage determined by the amount oi residuum left from said sample.

2. A. process tor determining the alcohol in an alcoholic liquid, which consists essentially ol mixing equal parts of a sample of said liquid and a reagent containing an amyl alcohol and a hydrocarbon of the aromatic series in a graduated receptacle, whereby the alcohol in said liquid is extracted and the percentage determined by the amount of residuum left from said sample.

8. A process for determining the alcohol in alcoholic liquids, which consists ot mixing a sample of said liquids and a reagent containing Ll'usel oil and toluene, whereby the alcohol in said liquid is extracted and the percentage determined by the amount of residuum left from said sample.

Al. A process 'for determining the alcohol in alcoholic liquids, which consists ot introducing a rea-gent containing an acidiiied mixture of it .sel oil and toluene into a sample oi' said liquids, whereby the alcohol in said sample is extracted and taken up by said mixture and the percentage determined by the amount of residuum left in a` lower layer.

5. A process for determining the alcohol in alcoholic liquids, which includes introducing a reagent containing lusel oil about parts, toluene about 28 parts and an aqueous solution of tartaric acid about 2 parts all by volume, into a sample ot said liquids 'for extracting and taking up the alcohol in said sample and leaving a residuum from which is determined the amount of alcohol in said sample.

0. A process for determining the alcohol and color in an alcoholic liquid, which includes introducing a reagent containing tusel oil, toluene and an acid into a sample of said liquid for extracting and taking up the alcohol and natural color in said liquid and leaving a residuum which holds the artilicial color, and from the amount of which the percentage of alcohol extracted may be determined.

7. A process for determining the alcohol and color in alcoholic liquids, which consists et rinsing a clean graduated receptacle with a sample of an alcoholic liquid to be tested, placing a portion ot said sample into said receptacle and adding an equal amount of a reagent, said reagent being an acidilied mixture oi" an amyl alcohol and a hydrocarbon of the aromatic series, the temperature ot said liquids being maintained at approximately 20 C., then mixing said liquids and allowing to stand, whereby the alcohol and 'natural c0101@ in Sziidsziinpie is extracted and 'takeniup and leaving-a i'esichuiniwith the V,which includes introducing a ,rezigentvconmining` fusel oil7 tolueneandvtartzu'ic acid into analcoliche liquid.

9.1K process foi? the purpose set forth, which consists of introducing :i riunioni'.- h:iv-

fing un -ziniyizihfohoh :i hydiol'fmimn of the aromatic Series :and :in :und mn :1n nico hoiioliquid.

Vn tnsiinony whereof haw signed my naine to this speciiicninn. 

